David Hutter scored the lone goal for the Ninja Pandas in a shootout to help his team capture their third HNX Championship in four seasons while cementing his legacy in the Panda's pantheon as one of their most prolific scorer.
As his contract is set to expire with no extension offered, rumours continue to swirl of Hutter's pending free agency and sources indicate the bottom-dwelling Deadpucks have made a generous long-term offer to him lure him away from the Pandas.
If this was his last game in a Panda uniform, what a way to go.
Hutter lined up with his younger up-and-coming-star brother, Michael Hutter, for most of the season and the dynamic duo torched many defensive pairs with their constant hard-hat, blue-collar forechecking mentality and creative sibling plays.
The theme of the night was the Final Boss' inability to hold on to their leads as the Ninja Pandas never once led in the game until Hutter's shootout winner while also erasing multiple one-goal and two-goal leads.
Brian Tran had two goals, including a crafty flick shot past the glove of Panda goalie, Tim Dupuis, after David Duong caused a turnover off Matt Tang. Geoffy McNeely was his usual dominant self, recording a hat trick while seemingly carrying his team on his shoulder for most of the game with his relentless attack on both ends.
Final Boss had a commanding 6-4 lead early in the 3rd period but an errant pass from Boss defender Kien Lee landed on the stick of Michael Pham who raced into the offensive zone before dropping a beautiful pass to Rodney Bisnath who launched the puck past goalie Tim Ip.
With under four minutes to play in the game, the comeback was complete after sniper Chad Paquette one-timed a huge rebound into the back of the net.
While nothing was settled in the first overtime, controversy did ensue when it appeared McNeely broke into the offensive zone all alone after stealing the puck from Tang but was hauled down by Tang which ended the scoring opportunity. Tang was assessed a two-minute penalty while the Boss' bench was screaming for a penalty shot.
Moments later, Boss' forward Braydem Lim was called for a holding penalty and video replay suggests it was a weak call during an important moment in the game but fortunately they were able to kill the penalty.
The win and championship marks another stellar season for the Pandas who will have a busy 1-week offseason to retool their roster as many players are leaving via free agency.